Finance committee  Thank you for your question. Each year, we receive the signatories' financial records and a list of their projects. One current principle of the federal gas tax fund is that municipalities can use the payments received each year or bank them. This means that some municipalities can bank funds to spend the following year.

Finance committee  No, we don't have the freedom to modify them as we wish.

Finance committee  Yes, I can talk about the federal gas tax fund, but not necessarily about the other programs. For the federal gas tax fund, we have agreements with all the signatories, which include the provinces and territories. Once Bill C-30 is passed, the funds will be transferred through the current mechanisms, which call for the immediate distribution of the money.

Finance committee  Thank you for your question. I think that Bill C-25 was covered by Bill C-30. Both are the same, but now we're talking about Bill C-30, rather than Bill C-25.

Finance committee  Thank you for your question. Yes, an amount is allocated to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.

Finance committee  The federal gas tax fund doesn't include specific payments other than for services for first nations. Under our agreements, the signatories can use the money in a certain way.

Finance committee  The municipalities choose which projects to invest in, based on their priorities. The current program includes 18 project categories in which the signatories and ultimate beneficiaries can invest.

Finance committee  Thank you for your question. Each year, the signatories must send us their annual financial report along with a list of the projects funded during the year. We receive the list of projects and their costs. Once the projects are completed, we receive confirmation. The department receives this list each year and rearranges the data into a table format.

Finance committee  Thank you. The federal gas tax fund is a permanent, legislated and indexed funding program that currently provides over $2.2 billion annually to fund municipal and first nations infrastructure. Clause 199 of Bill C-30 proposes an additional one-time payment of $2.2 billion through the gas tax fund, which is double the amount committed to municipalities across Canada each year.

Finance committee  It is currently the gas tax fund, yes.

Finance committee  The program is currently called the federal gas tax fund. However, it will be renamed the Canada community-building fund, pursuant to clause 200 of Bill C-30.

Finance committee  Good day. Thank you so much. My name is Eric Malara, and I am the director of the governance and reporting section of the Office of Infrastructure of Canada. I am accompanied by my colleague, Nathalie Lechasseur, director general of program integrations. Our presentation deals with section 14 of Part 4 of Bill C-30.

Finance committee  Thank you very much.